


High Score

by Solstheim (SweetRaspberryTea)



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 19:09:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8545660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetRaspberryTea/pseuds/Solstheim
Summary: Mass Effect gift fic: prompt was battlefield flirting. Kaidan, Shepard and Garrus hit up Armax Arsenal Arena and have some good ole' fashion fun.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HeavenOnFire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeavenOnFire/gifts).



> For HeavenOnFire, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy the fic ^^
> 
> I'm really sorry I wrote them a bit mean to Garrus, I wrote them with similar experience in my playthrough in that Garrus died/gets knocked out all the time. Like I'm serious, even in ME1 Kaidan is a tank past level 20, but at ay level Garrus is like "nope, I'm gonna sit this one out lol."

If there was one thing Kaidan didn’t know about John before he sat him down at Apollo’s and bore his heart out, it was that quiet John Shepard was not only incredibly loving as a partner, but also that he was one to openly flirt whenever possible. Granted, it was never during a situation that would bring disrespect to either of them or put them on a receiving end of a citation, but it was still a bit of a surprise from the enigmatic commander...a happy one at that.

The crews scuttlebutt caught word of it quickly however, and not even the next day, Kaidan caught Liara taking a credit chit off of a rather defeated looking private that usually worked down in the shuttle bay. She smiled softly when Kaidan raised an inquisitive brow and she merely answered with “He thought Shepard and I were dating, I owe Tali a drink, so I made a bet.” before she sauntered off towards the elevator. Kaidan turned his gaze towards the private, who walked head down, defeatedly towards the elevator to the Mess.

And like many things, it was difficult to keep themselves secret on a small frigate, Tali was well aware (she always was good friends with Liara), Garrus was smug and swore that he knew all along, (although Tali refuted this), and Joker held a similar view, when Kaidan and Shepard were both on the bridge, he only made a smirk and asked “So when’s the wedding?”

The night after Horizon had spirits higher after their defeat at Thessia, the crew went towards the Citadel, Kaidan knew, although the reason still escaped him. He walked towards the Mess were most of the morning crew where eating, or at least trying to, considering a couple were nursing a hangover from the news that they were finally going to get Cerberus.

Shepard and Garrus were chatting, leaning on the counter, the commanders brows raise in surprise as he catches sight of the major, he smiles at Garrus and walks past the turian, and walks up to Kaidan, greeting him with a casual "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Kaidan smiles.

"So the Normandy is being ordered on some mandatory shore leave to the Citadel before we head back into the thick of it, and I might've gotten an invitation to the Arena on the Silversun Strip. Interested?" He asks, a bashful grin spreading across his face.

"Sure, I'd love to."

"Great." He smiles and pats Kaidan on the shoulder, his hand lingering a touch longer. "I have to get up to the CIC, I'll catch you later."

Kaidan nods. "Yeah, I'll see you Shepard.

Garrus shakes his head. "Lovestruck that one is. I'm surprised hearts didn't magically pop out of the air and float around his head." He pauses. "It is hearts that do that yes?"

Kaidan snorts. "Yes, it is. And go easy on him."

"Or what, is his rough and tough Spectre boyfriend going to beat me up? Whatever shall I do?" He says in a mock tone.

"Kaidan looks the turian straight in the eye and smirks. "Don't have to beat you up, but I might want to watch your rifle if I were you Vakarian, Spectres don't adhere to rules, remember?"

Garrus' mandibles twitch. "You wound me Alenko, but fair." He walks towards the main battery, before turning around on his heel. "You touch my rifle though and I'll kick your ass."

Kaidan smiles, and leaves, leaving the rest of the crew to wonder what the hell that was about.

\---

Their shore leave didn't exactly get off to the right start, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it took a few more credits to buy the beer and steak for the date he planned for him and Shepard, there was a clone of Shepard that stole the Normandy and locked them in the archive and honestly Kaidan wasn't really sure if he could take more shore leave for the day.

He dons his armor, he's hoping that it will be fun to see Shepard in his prime, not fighting reaper ground forces in a mad scramble to stay alive. He feels a quick peck on the back of his neck and nearly jumps out of his pants.

"Hey, don't get so lost in thought, this is supposed to be a destresser."

"Sorry." Shepard turns Kaidan so they're facing each other and smiles, giving him a quick kiss.

"Don't be, spirits know I do it enough."

"So you two ready to stop eye-screwing yourselves and get your armor on?" Garrus leans on a locker.

Kaidan makes a face and Shepard laughs, kisses him on the cheek and clasps Kaidan's breastplate into place, and pats his ass. "C'mon, this'll be fun."

Shepard walks away and Kaidan picks up his rifle with Garrus. "What exactly are we fighting, by the way?"

"They're" he holds up his fingers to do air quotes, "state of the art holograms according to their message."

Kaidan raises a brow and a thoughtful smile. "Like Ahern back on Pinnacle Station?"

"Just the same. They were impressed by our scores back then so they sent me an invitation, it's to boost morale."

"Too bad we don't have our fresh-faced lieutenant anymore." Garrus shakes his head.

"You know, I kind of miss that one ex-C-Sec officer we had that kept getting his ass kicked by Geth holograms."

Garrus' mandibles click and Shepard replies with: "Nah, we get two Spectres and a Turian that likes to attempt humor."

"Yeah, and I've got some beautiful scars with age"

"S'what the cute Turian said last night?"

"You met-?" Kaidan is interrupted as the announcer jovially announces the trio into the ring.

"This is...a bit more flashy than Aherns holograms."

Shepard is waving towards the crowd, smiling. "No backing out now Kaidan, we're fighting holographic Cerberus troops. Target practice really."

Garrus leans over to Kaidan. "It's like a date for you two really, I'll make sure nothing comes near you two."

Kaidan makes an exasperated noise as the simulation shimmers into view. "You did tell them to leave the safety on this time, right? Last time we went into a sim Ahern almost killed us."

"Yeah, and Shepard got an apartment out of it."

"You have an apartment?"

Shepard quickly ignores the question, "It's not even set to be that difficult Kaidan, stop worrying. Of course the safety is on. Garrus got too heavy for me to carry out of the fire anyways." He winks towards the turian who makes a face similar to a frown.

"That was one time Shepard."

"I seem to remember-"

"All right, next round is going to be Spectre versus Archangel."

Kaidan chuckles. "All right."

The VI starts counting: "Five, four."

"All right boys, let's show the Citadel how it's done."

"Three, two, one."

The three pull their respective weapons from their backs and rush to the barrier behind the spawn point, Garrus tosses a proximity mine and Kaidan reaves a hologram of a Cerberus grunt.

“Just like old times, huh?” Garrus yells over the comm.”

“You bet!” Shepard yells back, and he rolls to the barrier closer to the spawn point and shoots one of the Cerberus grunts in the head, taking Kaidan’s kill.

“Might want to watch out Shepard, your ass is distracting Alenko!”

Kaidan’s face goes red. “He just shot him first!”

Shepard looks back at Kaidan with a smug grin. “I’ll make sure to stay behind you in the future, better view that way anyways.” He pulls a hologram down over the barrier and plants his omni-blade into its chest.

“Round Two, now starting.”

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One”

The group runs towards the spawn point, Kaidan takes point, lobbing an Overload at a combat engineer before they’re able to put a turret down. “Really hate engineers and their damn turrets.”

John makes a mock frown. “You wound me Kaidan.”

“If your turret gets me in the ass I’ll have to kick yours Shepard.

“I’d never do anything to shoot at your ass Kaidan.”

“Even if it distracts Shepard during missions.”

Kaidan shoots Garrus a look and shoots a grunt on the other side of Garrus’s barrier. “What, sad Shepard isn’t looking at your mug anymore?”

“Oh, absolutely saddened, I’m crying at the thought.”

“Y’know if you guys spent as much time roasting each other as you did shooting we could actually take down these grunts!” Shepard yells as he recharges his shields and sends a sentry turret to retreat back into cover.

“Round Three, now starting.”

“Five-”

Shepard begins to talk over the announcer. “C’mon, I only set us for three rounds, now I wanna get that high score, move your asses!”

Kaidan and Garrus make mock salutes and run to the first spawn point across the bridge, a myriad of Cerberus foot soldiers materializing into the simulation. Kaidan reaves one and sends it careening into another, the announcer making a cheery “Kill streak!” as he gets a double-kill before Garrus snags the kill streak with a headshot into an engineers head. Shepard’s combat drone joins the fray as he ducks past a troop and unloads a magazine into the grunt. “Doing much better!” Shepard yells.

“We just can’t disappoint you, but next time maybe have them spawn enough grunts for a high score?”

“You just have to kill them fast!” 

The announcer VI makes a quick “kill streak” before the round is over, again awarding it to Kaidan.

“Ok, that had to beat the high score, who’s holding it right now?”

Shepard pauses, and scratches the back of his neck.

“Aria T’loak.”

“Oh spirits Shepard, how the hell did you even think we were gonna beat that?”

Shepard slings his arms over Kaidan and Garrus’s shoulders. “I have my two favorite guys right here, we kill reaper forces all the time.”

“If we beat the high score, I will personally buy you two a bottle of whiskey.”

“Even TM-88?”

“Even TM-88.”

Kaidan smiles and points up to the screen. “5500 enough to beat her score Vakarian?”

“Open mouth, insert foot, ha ha.” Shepard sticks out his tongue jokingly.

“All right, all right, I’ll have it before the party, keep your shirt on.”

They take the elevator down into the locker room area and head back out to the Strip, Garrus waves off and Kaidan and Shepard slip into the crowd, wraps his arms around Kaidan’s waist, leaning his head over to make a quick kiss on the man’s lips. “So, I know that wasn’t exactly the best date. ‘Specially what you usually have planned.”

“It was fun. Glad we got the score you wanted.”

Shepard chuckles. “Yeah, until after the war and Aria probably gets to a five-digit score.” He nuzzles into Kaidan’s neck, sticking his hands into the shorter mans back pockets. “I like spending time with you.”

“I thought you would be sick of me by now.”

“You? nah.” He places another kiss on Kaidan’s jawline. “I could never tire of you.” Kaidan presses a kiss on Shepards hairline before they pull away, Shepards omni-tool buzzing. He pulls up an audio call, and a turian from C-sec is requesting that he go to C-sec immediately about a Krogan that’s asking for him.

“So uh, I should go. I’ll catch you later?”

“Just let me know when you’re free, I might have something planned.” Kaidan winks and walks back as they part. “See you soon Shepard, let me know what that’s about.”

Shepard smiles and rubs his neck. “Yeah, will do.”


End file.
